o be but a drop from the ocean of
the all-pervading Primordial Essence; and it is here that man first has to
grasp it,--this Primordial Essence. He must recognize it in himself before
he is able to find it in its manifestations.

That which penetrates into the consciousness-soul like a drop from the
ocean is called by occult science _Spirit_. In this way is the
consciousness-soul united with the spirit, which is the hidden principle
in all manifested things. If man wishes to lay hold of the spirit in all
manifestation, he must do it in the same way in which he lays hold of the
ego in the consciousness-soul. He must extend to the visible world the
activity which has led him to the perception of his ego. By this means he
evolves to yet higher planes of his being. He adds something new to the
principles of his body and soul. The first thing that happens is that he
himself conquers what lies hidden in his lower soul-principles, and this
is effected through the work which the ego carries on within the soul. How
man is engaged in this work becomes evident if we compare a high-minded
idealist with a person who is still given up to low desires and so-called
sensual pleasures. The latter becomes transmuted into the former if he
withdraws from certain lower tendencies and turns to higher ones. He thus
works through his ego upon his soul thereby ennobling and spiritualizing
it. The ego has become the master of that man's soul-life. This may be
carried so far that no desire or wish can take root in the soul unless the
ego permits its entrance. In this way the whole soul becomes a
manifestation of the ego, which previously only the consciousness-soul had
been. All civilized life and all spiritual effort really consist in the
one work, which has for its object to make the ego the master. Every one
now living is engaged in this work whether he wishes it or not, and
whether or not he is conscious of the fact.

Again, by this work human nature is drawn upward to higher stages of
being. Man develops new principles of his being. These lie hidden from him
behind what is manifest. If man is able by working upon his soul, to make
his ego master of it, so that the latter brings into manifestation what is
hidden, the work may extend yet farther and include the astral body. In
that case the ego takes possession of the astral body by uniting itself
with the hidden wisdom of this astral principle. In occult science the
astral body which is thus c